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The last leg of my French sojourn, I continued to build on esoteric knowledge of this incredibly rich region.

My new friend Jeannette Rogers, another Fellow at Moulin a Nef, is a translator of medieval troubadour poetry from the original language of Occitan into both modern French and English. I never knew of this language, nor of the Cathars, the peace-loving, vegetarian Christian sect that was wiped out during the Inquisition.

After 2 and a half weeks in Auvillar, I spent three days in Toulouse, a city I fell in love with. The rest of the Fellows were all set to go home and I would have been alone at Moulin a Nef. I couldn't face it, so I booked myself a little side trip to this fascinating city. It seemed to me to be about the size of Providence RI, and a river runs through it, too.

That is where I was when the Paris attacks of Nov. 13 occurred. In fact,
I only knew about it because my friends emailed me to ask if I was ok. I
saw the messages upon waking on Saturday morning…

Continuing the story of my French adventure... thanks to my wonderful high school French teacher, Jean Price, I was able to both understand and make myself understood. Incroyable!

This was France Profund, or "deep France", as the natives call it because it is so non-touristy. It was especially quiet in November. The thousands of summer pilgrims on the Chemin de St. Jacques had dwindled to just a few, and there were many times when walking around Auvillar that we felt we were the only ones around for miles.

Among the many esoteric things that I learned about this area: pigeonniers, otherwise known as "dovecotes" or places for pigeons to hang out. Seriously, the wealthy landowners of old built these exquisite buildings on their land much to the dislike of their tenants. The smell and noise was probably obnoxious. But look how beautiful!

So what did I find to photograph, what drew my visual interest? In no particular order here are images that I took because I was sp…

This November, I was fortunate to have a residency in Auvillar, France in the south west of the country. Part of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, this residency is only available to past Fellows of VCCA. It had always been my dream to do a residency in Europe. Though it is challenging to make art while also trying to absorb a new place that strongly beckons you to engage with the culture and history, I did manage to respond to my surroundings.

Auvillar itself is a charming, medieval village once famous for painted pottery and goose quill pens. Now it is a sleepy, magical village on the pilgrimage trail, known as the Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle.

I am pleased to announce that I will be displaying some new work in a pop up exhibit, WHACK!, with my friend and artist colleague Jodi Colella.

Here's our press release. The first fifty visitors get a special, customized WHACK! door prize, (as if you needed any more encouragement to see the show.)

The work will be on view Friday through Sunday, September 25 to 27 at 49 River Street, Beacon Hill, Boston MA, USA. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 25 from 6 to 9 pm. The artists will discuss their work at 3 pm on Sunday, September 27. Hours are 3 to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday, and Sunday from 2 to 7 pm.

The show’s title refers to the intensity of color and texture on view and the immediacy and urgency of a three day show.

Adria Arch’s new paintings start with a splash. Working in an intuitive, gestural tradition, she brings in the element of chance at the beginning. The liquid spill, a pooling pour of paint, is the first mark that determines a causative sequenc…

August 1 - 7 I spent with 15 brave souls who took my workshop, Intuitive Painting on Cape Ann. I made this video to demonstrate how this approach to teaching art can change profoundly how you see and make art.

I've been hard at work in the studio expanding my horizons, pushing myself to the next new exploration which is working at a larger scale and working on canvas and other more permanent surfaces. This has been the most fun I've had in the studio in a long time. I am super excited about what I've been doing.